The only tweak I would have made would have been to stick with Sharples, though strettle is no slouch Sharples looks electric and would have been useful against 2 very classy wingers in Bowe and Trimble.

hasta, good point on Bendy, completely forgot. In my opinion, Brown is not a man to have on the bench, in fact it's a shocking decision. What will he offer when we're 5 points down with 10 minutes to go? In my opinion, he should either start or not be in the squad.

Agree with marshie, hardly an impact player, as ridiculous as having Turner-Hall on the bench. As for him being the form fullback for two years, Foden may have something to say about that. One has the potential to be world class, the other I'm not even sure is international class.

in some ways, it could be better to start with Brown, and have Foden for impact. But there aren't loads of other options at full-back. Wouldn't mind seeing a back 3 of Strettle, Foden, Sharples though.

Brown has been fantastic in the premiership this year and is probably better on from than Foden. He deserves his bench spot and full back being a difficult position to cover having a fullback on the bench makes a lot of sense. He will make an impact if he gets longer than 5 minutes of rugby every week. He is certainly international class but he wasn't when he was last picked for England. I have watched a lot of Quins this season and Brown is one of the main reasons they are top of the league. And without Robshaw and Brown Quins aren't the same team. He deserves his bench spot and I'd prefer Brown to anyone else there.

True BO. And ironically they were also Six Nations Champs! The difference I think with this team is that there are a lot of new caps and the tendency might have been to swap and change people if we didn't quite get the results or play the way we wanted to and he's not done that.

Lancaster has not altered the team in order to give many a chance to prove themselves or in turn because they have proved themselves. Johnson seemingly stuck with the same players out of loyalty rather than form or player development.

Ashton should NOT be playing. His head is clearly not right for one reason or another. His only impact in the last 5 games has been jumping out of the line and making a tackle, leading to the Tuilagi try.

Everyone loves SL because he is making the right noises - installing pride back in the shirt, discipline on and off the pitch, picking players on form.

Wait a minute, what was that last one? Picking players on form? Whilst that has applied to players such as Strettle, Parling, Robshaw, Farrell and Barritt - this has NOT been applied to the man standing on our right wing.

What is it about Ashton that people and, more importantly SL, deem so irreplaceable? The guys head is clearly not in the right place with him being mucked about by Mallinder (deservedly so IMHO) and the fall out from the whole RWC debacle.

Charlie Sharples is undoubtedly the form winger (many will say Tom Biggs, but take the Bath goggles off) in the Premiership and his blistering pace is something England could really do with.

A spot on the bench of dropped from the 22 may just be the kick up the ar5e that the petulant, ill-disciplined and mouthy Chris Ashton needs. It may after all, flick a switch inside him, bringing back that real hunger and desire to play for his country again.

Humpo, I'd even argue that Parling has not been picked on form, he's been injured for months. Parling impressed me against France but I think Attwood is a better player. I still don't think Brown should be on the bench, start with him at 15 and have Foden on the wing. Foden hasn't really excited me at full back to be honest. I don't think Brown would excite me either but when it comes to form, Brown edges Foden for me.

Given thread title surprised no one has yet predicted the outcome for this one so here's my punt - Eng to win by 5-10pts. Agree Ashton lucky to retain his shirt but hoping he proves me wrong on Saturday.

Great to see a really dominant England pack, particularly in creating space in the last quarter.

Also what a great combination Wilko and Dawson were and that drop goals seem to be a forgotten art when you're in the oppo 22 but getting slow ball (could say the same about Bath).

On Sat I'd like to see Morgan stay the pace better, seems to burn brightly for the first half hour then fade a bit. Always liked big ball carriers though, I don't see much in the way of impact coming off the bench but happy-ish with the backs.

Ireland have still scored the most tries this year and were unlucky to lose to Wales. They also weren't in any particular form this time last year either and look what happened. Wouldn't be surprised if England lost sadly

Ireland are dangerous with some very potent backs, a strong lineout and excellent back row. I'd find it difficult to believe that a young England are favourites, even at home.

That said, I think England can do it. Also agree that Ashton should be dropped. Might spark him up a bit. Attwood should have been in the 22 for the whole tournament IMHO, but their loss has been our gain in a time when we've really needed him.

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